National Republican., 1887-02-16
ESSAY on ARBITRATION.
Conere,smsn JohnJ. o'Nslips oontrl-

Congressman John j. O'Neill, OF Mis-
souri,, has contributed to volume entitled
s'Ths labor Movement, an essay on ear
bitration." In opening the Congressman
Gays:
IA few months ago dense clouds lowered
upon the fields OF industry. Disastrous |
strikes then prevailed throughout the |
southwest, threatening at one time TO in II
volve the entire railroad eystem. OF the
United States. misfortune which was
alone prevented by the good Judgment and
flrmness of the leaders OF the Knights OF
Labor and the Brotherhood OF Locomotive
Engineers; while during the same period
other strikes were pending, involving thou.
sands and thousands OF workmen In vari-
Gus factories and work shops. These have
all passed away, and to-day witnesses COM
paratiye peace throughout the length aud
breadth OF the land. AT such a time 1t Is
peculiarly opportune to appeal to the In
telligence OF the country workipgmen
and employers alike--to devise some better
plan Of adjusting differences than by strikes
on the one hand and lockouts on the other,
with their concomitant trains OF disaster,
iuin, and frequently crime.
The losses sustained by w6rkmen and
employers, together with incidental inju-
lies to the people at large, In the disastrous
conflicts Of the last few years, would pre-.
cent the frightful spectacle OF the absolute
waste Of hundreds OF rmilllons OF dollars.
For, while the loss OF the strikers from their
enforced idlepess and the loss to employers
from injury to property and the unproduc.
tiveness OF their Investments, amounts to
millions OF dollars, the greater loss Is
borne by the entire country from the loss !,
Of wealth produced by employed labor,
from the increased cost of articles involved
IN the controversy, and, IN cases OF rail-
road strike, from the increased cost OF fuel
and food to the people, from the difflculty \
and delay In obtaining supplies; resulting
also In tthe enforced closing Of workshops
and factories, through the Inability Of en-
ployers to obtain necessary materials, thus
swelling the ranks OF those thrown out OF
employment by additional thousands, who
are in-eueh cases the unfortunate Victims Of
acontroversy In which they are not directly
interested. .-..
He deduces from this the theory that citi-
zens should carefully study the best
methods Of bringing employer and em-
ployed together to discuss those questions
of vital interests to themselves. He lnstructs
employers that in dealing with labor they
cannot go on the commercial rule Of how
much can be made out OF 1t or how low 1t
can be purchased. The disastrous expert
ence Of strikes should prompt them to act
fairly by their workmen. Greater success,
he urges, can be achieved by pursuing q
course which will prevent strikes.
Workmep, as rule, have always favored
arbitration, and the submission Of their
differences to an impartial tribunal, and
history shows that In almost every instance
where they have succeeded in obtaining an
impartial hearing of their. grievances, they
have loyalty and honorably abided by the
result. Employers, as rule, have been
slow in recognizing the right Of workmen to
even o hearing ignoring the humanities OF
life and placing the workman on the same
footing with their merchandise. Such
position, whenever dispute occurs, has
invariably resulted in conflict, for the
reason that workingmen will not submit to
be eignored by an enterprise In which they
believe that their labor and genius are as
much the mainsprings OF its success as Is
the capital invested.
He urges that the principle OF appealing
to facts and reason instead Of brute force Is
rational and commends itself TO the judg-
ment Of every rigbt-minded man. When
workmen and employer meet and discuss
their grievances they give evidence OF the
nobler qualities of manhood.
Strikes and lockouts are characteristic Of
the feudal age, when might was right and
every dispute was settled by resort to
force. Arbitration will be characteristic Of
the age OF reason and law.
He quotes from Prof. Waterhouse, Prof.
Clark, Prof. adams, Prof. James, p. II.
jDonnelly, Fred Woodrow, John Jarrett,
Hon. iE. r. Hutchins, Hon. Joel b. Nc
CsmaDt, and Hon. Oscar K0chtitsky, all OF
whom enthusiastically support arbitration
as q method Of settling labor difhculties.
He then reviews the history of indus
trial arbitration, commencing with Napo-
Icons requests to the workingmen at Lyons
in 1905, which resulted In the creation OF
boards Of arbitration by law, which still
exist In Belgium, Austria, and Great
Britain similar laws have been enacted, and
in all the countries with very beneficial re-
1'has -raet,1fa ha Hhaau an alu1Oot
total abolition OF strikes In the several
trades. a M o.. e
The principle Of arbitration as shown by
thehistory Of the movement is probably
gaining foothold In this country. The
Knights OF Labor have adopted It as one
of their cardinal principles. Legal arbl'
tration was first presented In this country
by the passage OF the Wallace actin Penn.
sylvania in 1888. Ohio followed that lead
and In Iowa, Massachusetts,, New York
and New Jersey similar laws have either
been enacted or are under consideration.
The national House Of Representatives o!
arbitration bill which is now being consid
cred by the Senate, but the narrow limi
placed on Congress by the constitution pre-
vents It from reaching by legislation mil
lions Of the laboring classes. Under suct
restrictions the appeals to arbitration mus
be voluntary and the occasions for suct
dpDeHIb VIII De lew. Ing ldTRc uuhJOIlby "
which It passed the House manifested thl
good will Of the members toward the prin.
ciple.
The disadvantages under which the wage
Garner is placed In the struggle for subsist-
epce is well understood One OF the frs
steps to be taken TO remove these dlsadyan
tages is to place labor, In cases Of contest
greatly promoted by the aid OF the stat
and federal government. Establish BY
legislative authority, tribunals OF arbitration
and boards of Cancellation, and usefu
progress will be made In the right direction
Combination, union, and harmony are
power. In the middle ages the societies OF
tradesmen, by combination and concert OF
action, overcame the robber baron and the
feudal lord. and wrested from them theil
rights, long denied. Mechanical industry
was essentially OF q democratic character
and between It and the feudal system there
was an ''irrepressible conflict" Small
bodies Of organized mechanics existed al
workingman's capital. Let him combine
It by organization. The small beginnings
of the twelfth century have grown to enor-
nous proportions In the nineteenth. W.
have witnessed It's growth In this country
But look abroad. The labor parliament
in 1876 represented 113 societies ana 557,
4SS members. The same convention held
at Leicester in 1877 represented liz societies
and 691 ,0S9 members.
Every intelligent man knows that som,
disease Turks In the body polite, when, Al
Low, In short lifetime, single individual
can accumulate fortune OF hundred
millions. This disease should be cured
The laboring man, mechanic or farmer, ha
furnished, In times past, the great world
teachers and benefactors.
II the laboring organizations shall sue
ceed In establishing peaceful methods o
solving, not only how to prevent strike
and lockouts, but how to prevent tn,
growth OF monster monopoles OF wealth